Who benefits from portal vein resection during pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic cancer?
Launois B; Stasik C; Bardaxoglou E; Meunier B; Campion JP; Greco L; Sutherland F Department of Digestive Surgery and Hepatobiliary Unit, Centre Medico Chirurgical Saint-Vincent, and University of Rennes, Avenue Saint Vincent, B.P. 129, Saint Gregoire 35760, France. Portal vein resection during pancreaticoduodenectomy has recently experienced renewed interest. We describe our results with this procedure over a 20-year period. Among 88 consecutive pancreatectomies for cancer of head of the pancreas, 14 included en bloc removal of the portal vein. There was no hospital mortality. Only 21% were found to have histologically confirmed cancer invasion, and the remainder had inflammatory adherence. Two-year survival was 15% compared to 34% for patients who did not have portal vein resection. There were no 5-year survivors. We discuss our results in light of other recent reports.
